People have been known to put some odd things in their trunks. Sure, most use that space
to house a spare tire, a jack, and maybe some sort of automotive fluid. Others, however,
have used trunks to store everything from massive stereo systems to that squealer Lenny
who blabbed to the FBI.

Starting a year ago, however, a considerable number of Portlanders began to wonder if
their trunks might be better served with a handy little monkey occupying it. During
Super Bowl XXXVII, Suburban Auto Group aired what would become one of the most
successful commercials the area has ever seen. The ad depicts a humble Suburban
customer caught at a stoplight by a screaming road rager. Rather than escalate the
situation, the driver pushes a small button on his dash labeled “Trunk Monkey.”
Said simian then emerges from the back of his car with a crowbar to dispatch the
troublemaker.

The commercial was an instant hit, and spawned, to date, three additional ads detailing
the continuing adventures of drivers and their chimps. “We had a relationship with
Suburban, prior to the monkey ads, for about a year and a half,” says Sean Blixseth,
President of R/West, the Portland-based agency behind the ads. “We did this first round
[of television commercials] with them where we focused on Suburban’s amazing service.
They have this great reputation, and we thought, how can we dramatize that and cut
through the clutter?” This resulted in a few memorable ads, like one that made use of the
old theory that people can relax during public speaking by imagining their audience in
their skivvies. “We said, why imagine? And the spot had all the sales staff running
around in their underwear.

“So we submitted more like that,” Blixseth continues, “but Suburban pushed us to come
up with something edgier. We went back to the drawing board and came up with some
pretty edgy stuff. It was between about three different directions that were submitted, but
the mass appeal of the monkey was so unique that they chose that one.”

“We didn’t want a typical car commercial,” says Erinn Sowle, General Manager at
Suburban. “Part of our reputation is that we have a great repeat and referral customer
base. The whole background of the campaign was ‘what we do differently to take care of
our customers.’ So when they presented that, we all just loved it.”

R/West didn’t hit upon the monkey right away, however. “We originally came up with
Trunk Genie,” Blixseth says, “but we just can’t afford to go to Digital Domain to have
them create that.” Not that monkeys, like Jonah, the ad’s star, come cheap. “The monkey
we used is probably the most expensive, highest paid actor we’ve ever used.” And like
many stars, Jonah required some extra coddling to coax a performance from of him. “We
are limited by when he is ready. Sometimes he’s just not motivated enough, so they’ll try
to get him excited again. During one of the breaks, they put a dollar in a pop machine and he got to pick his own Dr. Pepper. If only we could have filmed that!”

Once Jonah was finished, however, the ad aired and provoked an immediate reaction.
“We started getting ten or fifteen calls a day,” Blixseth recalls. “It became this Internet
obsession. It was the number one commercial on this site called Ad Critic. People were
sending it to everyone else. All these dealerships were calling. Chevy called! It was one
of the Top 100 commercials in the world of 2003.”

Of course, with all this attention, some amount of protest was inevitable. “We did get
some calls from people saying it was violent,” Suburban’s Sowle says. And then People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals put out a call for their members to protest R/West’s
use of “live primates.” Blixseth says he anticipated this, or, rather, more than this. “I
expected a lot more trouble from PETA, but we really didn’t get that much. We got a
lot from people thinking it was too violent, but we’re talking about a monkey. It’s clearly
drama.”

Additionally, Blixseth says, these protesters aren’t getting a complete picture of the lives
of these animals. “At this particular company, the monkeys are ones that were pets and
have been abandoned. So they’re not ‘taken away’ from anywhere. This is a refuge and
[acting] is a way to make money.”

“Besides, the monkey’s never really in the trunk. There are rules and regulations about
dealing with animals. People may say, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe you did that,’ but
really, we didn’t. It’s smoke and mirrors.”

For his part, Blixseth has put his money where his mouth is when it comes to animal
issues. Not only has he been a supporter of the Jane Goodall Foundation, but he also runs
his own nonprofit company, Blue Five, devoted to protecting the oceans. “I’ve always
been actively involved with animal rights and protecting the interest of animals. We made
sure that when we chose this [campaign] to make sure that we did things right. But these
people who write in, I think that their interest is in the right place, but they just don’t
know.”

Regardless, the protests were only one very small part of the attention that the ads
garnered. “What is amazing is that this is all just for this little company, but it is one of
the most award-winning spots in the world.” Among those who have heaped awards on
little Trunk Monkey that could are The One Show (which Blixseth calls “the Oscars of
advertising”), the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, and even the
Cannes Film Festival. “It even made it into MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art, where
it’s a permanent fixture now.”

That’s not all. As the phenomenon caught on, other dealerships wanted some of R/West’s
lightning in a bottle. So far, the commercial has been licensed to about 12 different
dealerships nationwide, Blixseth says. That’s not all, though. “We’ve licensed it in
Europe, Canada and the United States. It has run all over Europe, not for licensing, but because they’re big on watching crazy commercials.”

Unfortunately, after a year and a handful of commercials, it would appear that the end is
in sight for the Trunk Monkey. “We’ll be ending it this year,” Blixseth reveals. The finale
hasn’t been decided yet, although the next commercial in the series is due shortly.
Although previous spots have been filmed in Portland, this new one is to be filmed in Los
Angeles for weather considerations, starring, notably, a new monkey. Jonah, it seems, is
retired. (His replacement, Ellie, is a veteran of ads for Capital One and Nestle.) “This
new commercial, the idea is ‘the new, improved Trunk Monkey.’ This guy is trying to
hot-wire the car and he trips the ‘Auto Trunk Monkey.’ You don’t need to hit the button
anymore.” From there, Blixseth says, the campaign heads into the big finish. He’s tight-
lipped about the details, but hints at a few possibilities, including a possible promotion or
even a recall for Suburban’s favorite simian.

Whatever the result, it’s been quite a ride for all involved. “The cool thing,” Blixseth
says, “is that this commercial has become a global phenomenon, but it started here with
this Sandy dealership.”